Dual Universes

[Dick Dunn]

andys at ulysses.att.com (Andy Sherman) writes:
> richard at locus.com (Richard M. Mathews) writes:
> |>Let's merge BSD and SysV now, resolve the conflicts, then start over
> |>inventing new features to create the next generation of splitting.
> |>At least that split will have started from just one place.

> Pardon my naivete, but isn't that what SVr4 is supposed to do?

(OK, your naivete is duly pardoned.:-)

Yes, there was a time when it appeared that SVR4 was intended to be a merge
of BSD and SysV...at least, many of us were led to believe that.  It turned
out not to be the case, if you understand "merge" in the sense Richard is
using it.

V.4 is a combination of the two systems.  It contains all of the facilities
of both systems, as one might expect.  However, where BSD and V.3
implemented the same idea in different ways, or provided different options,
etc., V.4 provides *both* mechanisms, plus a way to choose one or the
other.  Thus, for example, you've got both sockets and streams (one imple-
mented in terms of the other, but both still present).  You've got both
types of file system.  You've got two versions of any command which is
significantly different under V.3 and BSD.  In this sense it's not a merge.
Granted, the plethora of features and the "upward compatibility" from
either BSD or V.3 will probably help make it a Commercial Success, but it's
distressing to folks who thought V.4 might help simplify things.
-- 
Dick Dunn     rcd at ico.isc.com -or- ico!rcd       Boulder, CO   (303)449-2870
   ...If you plant ice, you're gonna harvest wind.